Angry nurses drown out minister

Infuriated nurses stopped Patricia Hewitt in her tracks yesterday as they interrupted her speech and demanded their voices be heard.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the Health Secretary, who was addressing the Royal College of Nursing conference in Bournemouth, had been met by more than 2,000 stony faces, a sea of white and yellow campaign T-shirts, and a welcome somewhere between cool and frigid.

"Put your speech away," shouted the nurses as Miss Hewitt, almost repeating the address she had made to Unison in Monday, said she would help any nurses made redundant to get new jobs. "Where? Where?" they yelled.

About 15 minutes into her speech, the nurses, who had already interrupted her with derisive laughter, cries of "rubbish", "resign" and the stamping of hundreds of feet, had finally had enough.

There would be more arguments and controversy in the coming year, Miss Hewitt was saying as the shouting spread, the crescendo of stamping grew, and she was finally drowned out.